This pothole is located in the alley behind Treats for the Face, Cafè De Mèxico and Goodwill in Sherman Oaks. I believe the heavy trucks from Goodwill are the cause of this problem. This pothole is 3 feet long and is very deep. I think I left my suspension there.

This location is in the city of Los Angeles. The whole street belongs to the city of Los Angeles. In the fourth picture, the building next to the white vehicle is an auto repair shop. I spoke with the owner and he said the city of South Pasadena and Los Angeles have been disputing the responsibility for this huge pothole. On 12/24/11, as I exited this driveway, the front end of my Audi sank in the pothole that was filled with water, causing $1,000 in damages, snapping my drive belt pulley. I also needed a new skid plate and motor mount. I filed a claim with South Pasadena, which they denied because they said the street belongs to Los Angeles. I filed a claim with L.A., but they denied it. To this day the pothole remains the same. Date: 12/31/11 Location: 1000 Kendall Ave., South Pasadena; the street up to the curb is the city of Los Angele’s Approx. size: very big and deep Length of time it’s been there: 7 years or longer From: René Uribe

The attached pics are from a pothole in the alleyway behind Darlington Ave. between Barrington and Granville; Zip 90049. The hole measures 6 feet by 4 feet with a gradient depth of over 1 foot. I have called and e-mailed as have neighbors. This pothole has been patched but never properly repaired for the last few years. It is a real problem for the people who must drive through the alley.

I appreciate whatever help you can supply. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Mauvi Bauer

Mauvi: I assume you have called the Bureau of Street Services, as well as e-mailing them and filing a complaint at their website. If you have, call, e-mail and file a complaint again — but this time indicating to them that if a car hits the pothole and loses control, it could damage property as well as any pedestrians in the alley or nearby. They are very sensitive to the possibility of law suits arising from unattended potholes. Have you called your councilperson’s field office? You might also e-mail him as well as the mayor, if you already haven’t. One last thought — alleys are not a priority given that the city is so backlogged with street repairs. Good luck — and happy New Year.

We hate to say we told you so, but according to a report in the Los Angeles Times, TRIP, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that studies transportation data and issues, has rated Los Angeles-Santa Ana-Long Beach as first among cities (with more than 500,000 residents) for the highest percentage of roads in poor condition and the highest annual cost to drivers — which here amounts to $800 per year. This study was based on 2011 data from the Federal Highway Administration. Read the complete L.A. Times story here.

In early July, John told me that “I called them last week, after 4-5 months … they said ‘Our claims take at least 8 months to process … call back in 60 days.’”

On August 6, he emailed me the following: “I finally heard back from the City Attorney, they denied my claim!” I told him to file an appeal.

Call the city attorney’s office and ask them why they denied it. They will talk to you about immunity laws and such. Tell them that you have records showing the city knew about the pothole (John had filed a Public Information request for any pothole reports or surveys they had for Aviation, and the street was repaved a few weeks after the incident, so he knew that the city knew about the bad street)). Email these to the investigator or ask to speak to the head investigator if you’re not getting anywhere. Contact your councilmember and the Mayor’s office as well. If all else fails, you can go to small claims court.

Today (August 13), we got the following from John:

“I was able to speak the City Attorney investigator who denied my claim.

After providing an additional photograph of the pothole and explaining my presumption that because the road was repaved within weeks of the incident that the City had to have prior knowledge of the condition, they have reversed their decision and are now processing my claim.

Per the Investigator, the city ALWAYS DENIES THE FIRST CLAIM.

Thanks for your help, guidance and advice. It looks like we’re done here!”

Jack Khachatrian has reported a major pothole on Hyperion Ave., just before the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge in Atwater. The approximately 2-foot by 3-foot pothole, located next to the speed limit sign, has been there for several months. Jack hit the pothole, damaging a wheel and tire. He’s now filed a claim with the city; we’ll keep you posted.

I need your expert advice. I filed a claim with the city attorney in February for damage to my car and my claim has still not been assigned to an adjuster. I spent quite a bit on repairs. Please let me know how I should handle this.

Our response:

The city likes to drag their feet in these matters. First off, do you have documentation that the city knew of the pothole? That will greatly help your case. But in any case, call the City Attorney’s Office and ask them about the status of your claim. That will help light a fire under them. Some people wait up to six months for a response — you’ve about reached that time frame. Call them.

I have been calling the City Attorney’s office every few weeks. I will also contact the street service department as noted on your web site. I will let you know how this works out.

Last January David Delgado and Alexis.K. Marion — on separate occasions — had encounters with a pothole at 3rd and June streets. Well, thanks to LAPotholes, David and Alexis have had their claims paid by the city. Here’s what David wrote:

“It seemed like the case was delayed because it took about 2 months and i never heard anything. so i went to the Los Angeles Bureau of street services and got a copy of all the times that street was serviced. they then sent me a letter 2 days later where they disclosed that the city was going to pay and that was it.”

Congratulations

You also might remember the massive pothole in the alley behind Frank Barich’s property in San Pedro. Here’s the latest from Frank:

Hello,
On 4/2/13, I made another call to: 1-800-996-2489 x11 and emailed bss.boss@lacity.org. The potholes were finally repaired 5/02/2013. Thank you very much for your assistance. I really appreciate your concern.
Sincerely,
Frank Barich

Remember the giant pothole on Fierro St. (cross street San Fernando Rd) in Glassell Park? We queried Jackie Ramirez to find out if the pothole had been repaired. Her response: “Yes, it has. Thank you so much!”

In the Sunday, May 5 edition of the Los Angeles Times — on the front page, no less, under the headline “L.A. full of roads to ruin for cars” — the city of L.A. was taken to task for its lousy streets. The paper applied its data-gathering expertise to the database of streets maintained by the Bureau of Street Services (which includes location, rating, street type and last inspection and repair), “mapped the data to neighborhood and council district boundaries,” and “found a wide disparity in road quality among the city’s 114 neighborhoods.”

And, in addition to their in-depth report, the Times put together an online interactive map that allows you to type in your address and get your street’s grade.

According to the report, “the city gives its road network an average grade of C, but the Times found differences not driven by wealth or political power — some of the poorest parts of the city have some of the best roads … But the average grade tells only part of the story. More than one-third of the streets in the city have a score of D or worse, meaning they must be resurfaced or totally reconstructed … The heart of the problem is aging streets, heavy traffic, undulating terrain and the sheer size of the network. The streets in the poorest shape tend to be in hillside neighborhoods, such as the Hollywood Hills, Mount Washington, Los Feliz and Bel-Air … For Angelenos waiting for their street to be rebuilt, abandon all hope: There is a 60-year backlog of failed streets — meaning residents might not see them fixed in their lifetimes.”

The main reason for the lack of repairs — too many streets, too little money.

On my way home from picking up my boyfriend (04/30/13), I hit a pothole on Fierro St. (cross street San Fernando Rd). The pothole was wide and deep.

Fierro St. is filled with potholes and it makes it very inconvenient for the businesses around. The street — compared to the neighboring streets — is in really bad condition. The potholes are deep and very noticeable. The address where it’s located: 3034 Fierro St., Los Angeles, CA 90065.

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Tired of the mean streets of L.A.? Potholes getting in the way of your smooth commute? Sunken asphalt, trenches, buckled and cracked roads getting on your nerves? Not to mention the damage to your pocketbook to repair your car?

Time to fight back.

Let's give City Hall a message: Fix our streets.

Send us an E-mail with a picture of your favorite pothole or bad road, and we'll post it to this Blog and forward it to the powers that be. Use our handy Pot Shots outline for describing your pothole, and send it to PotShots@LAPotholes.com.

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L.A. now has a free app to report non-emergency issues to your local municipal and city hall government offices; issues include potholes, graffiti, missed trash collections, abandoned vehicles, downed trees, broken traffic lights, broken sidewalks, etc. There's one for the Android and one for the iPhone.